The flavor comes from lemon juice and lemon zest, and the crunch comes from the addition of poppy seeds or chia seeds. Then just roll them into balls, freeze, and prepare your glaze.

For the glaze, I played around with a coconut butter option, but when you add liquids to coconut butter (e.g. lemon juice and maple syrup), it tends to seize up. So I went for a coconut oil-maple syrup glaze instead. However, I do include an oil-free glaze option in the notes!

These donut holes would make the perfect healthier snack or dessert. The lemon juice and zest punch through with a tart kick, which perfectly balances the sweetness of the dates. Plus, that glaze? Total swoon.

Add the dates back in along with the lemon zest, lemon juice, poppy or chia seeds, and vanilla extract. Blend until a tacky dough forms. If it’s too dry, add a little more lemon juice. If it gets too wet or sticky, add more coconut flour as needed.

Scoop out 1 1/2 Tbsp amounts of dough (I like this scoop) and roll into balls. Repeat until all of your mixture is used up. Arrange on your parchment-lined baking sheet. Transfer to the freezer and freeze for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare glaze by adding all ingredients to a mixing bowl and whisking thoroughly to combine (a little separation is natural - just stir again before glazing).

Remove donut holes from the freezer, and one at a time, dip donut holes into the glaze. Lift up with a fork or slotted spoon and tap off any excess glaze. Place back on the parchment paper to harden. Repeat until all donut holes are glazed. Then carefully transfer back to the freezer to set.

Freeze for 10 minutes. Then remove from freezer and dip again. You can repeat this process as many times as you can before the glaze runs out (I was able to dip all of my donut holes twice and rolled a few of them in a third time - though I found two times to be sufficient).

Pop back in the freezer to chill again until set - about 10 minutes. Enjoy! Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator (up to 1 week) or the freezer (up to 1 month). They can be stored at room temperature, but if too warm, the glaze can melt.

Notes

*An oil-free glaze option would be 4 Tbsp coconut butter, 1 tsp lemon zest, and stevia to taste (adding liquids to coconut butter will make it seize). OR use this recipe for a white chocolate version.*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated with half cashews and half walnuts, with chia seeds, and with all of the glaze.*Recipe concept inspired by This Rawsome Vegan Life, which was originally adapted from Lee from America.

I cannot wait to make these! How have I had all the ingredients for donut holes in my kitchen and not known it until now?! Naturally sweetened, and I love that you’ve included oil free alternatives too. Fantastic.

Hi! Loved he idea of lemon poppy seed in a raw ball version! Just wanted to ask if the balls need to be stored in the freezer because of the coconut oil based glaze or if it’s not necessary. Thanks for all your amazing recipes!! They are always delicious!!

A short note of heartfelt thanks for your generosity and passion that inspires such a river of amazing recipes! Your example of creative compassionate cuisine is wholly inspiring and a beacon of hope and positivity in this often dark world. I also love your language and the light touch that garnishes the enthusiasm oozing out of every page! The photography is top-shelf, seriously compelling me to go to kitchen and food processor!

Hey there. Love the recipe. Going to try it our this weekend. I saw that someone else asked about using AP Flour. I didn’t think you were supposed to eat AP Flour raw. Would you prepare the recipe differently? Thanks

I was wondering about this too? I’m thinking it would be important to toast in a pan for a few minutes and cool down before using it in the recipe. I won’t be using all purpose flour myself; just hoping to help out the ones that choose to. I’m going to try this recipe using all oat flour.

Hi Dana! I’ve recently become allergic to all kinds of nuts (yes, I’m still in the middle of my grieving process ). Do you have any recommendations for a nut-free version of this AMAZING LOOKING recipe?

I made these last night and they were so tasty! I used AP flour because that’s what I had and chia seeds. I halved the portion because my deserts never turn out well and now I don’t have any left. Thanks MB! Nom nom nom

Donut holes just made of dates, cashews, almonds, coconut, and lemon poppyseed goodness? SOLD to someone who LOVES donuts and lemon poppyseed-flavored ANYTHING! This sounds like a wonderful recipe. I need to buy coconut flour and almond flour now. They are just very handy ingredients in general, so might as well catalyze experimentation with them with this recipe!

I didn’t think it could get better than the cake bites you shared – but this is bliss!! They are so delicious, I even went all out and picked up poppy seeds. Next time I’ll try chia. Thank you for all of your lovely recipes, I look forward to your posts every week!

I made this yesterday morning and they were delicious. I used 6 tbsp lemon juice (I really love lemon) and all almond flour with one dunk in icing. I’ll definitely make again! Might try with apple cider instead of lemon juice for a fall treat!

Made these for my vegan 16 year old for her birthday cake! Its what she wanted and we loved them, well except for my 17-year-old son who doesn’t like anything vegan… hmm, not sure he actually tried them!

I normally Love your recipes, but this one was a disaster for me! Please advise. Here’s what I think the problem is: dates have a highly variable moisture content and texture. Could you describe the dates you used? What variety? Room temp vs cold etc. I made mine with fresh gooey Honey dates from the farmers market, that had been sitting out all morning, and blended them really smooth, so that was probably mistake # 1. Next, with the walnut/cashew part, it would be helpful to see a photo of the nut texture, after you processed them but before adding all the other ingredients. I may have over blended my nuts, not sure. I also believe that nuts and nut flours have a variation in moisture content, which could affect the out come. I would love to try these again, but don’t want to waste more expensive ingredients in the process. Thanks!

Jacky it sounds like the mixture was just overblended. In that instance next time I’d recommend just pulsing the dates until small bits remain (not a puree). And for the nuts make sure they’re the consistency of a meal not a powder. When dates are really fresh they can be easy to overblend. You could probably even get away with just finely chopping them next time. Hope that helps!

I’ve been making the raw donut holes from My Rawesome Vegan Life for a months now. My husband protests if they aren’t in the freezer. So these…were amazing…and so much easy. Yah for no nut soaking. I actually threw it all in my food processor at ones and they still turned out great (processor is pretty durable and strong). One request though…please please please more variations and flavors of these donut holes! Thanks for the great work you do!

These were really great and easy to make. I used almond flour as written and subbed whole wheat flour for the coconut (since that’s what I had available). My one mistake was putting extra maple syrup in the glaze, which made it too sweet. I thought it wasn’t quite sweet enough when I first tasted it, but I should have trusted the recipe! Anyway they were fantastic and I will definitely make again. I might put more poppy seeds next time, and maybe some almond extract. It’s definutelt a recipe that can be played around with.

In my home everybody LOVES the “no bake vanilla cake bites”, so when I saw this version I just have to try it. They are delicious! I skipped the glaze and just roll them on unsweetened shredded coconut. GRACIAS! MUCHAS GRACIAS! :)

I made these yesterday and they taste excellent, especially with that glaze, wow! I made them with almond meal instead of flour bc i had a lot of almonds and no flour and the dough/texture came out good. Great recipe Dana! Will make again for sure.